Major leadership changes are done, says GM’s CEO Ed Whitacre

After having brought in new executives to run its finances, lobbying and North American operations, the "major leadership changes" for General Motors Co. are complete, according to a letter written by CEO Ed Whitacre on March 31.

A Bloomberg report stated that in this letter, Whitacre sought to reassure its anxious employees that the current team in place is the "team that will take [the company] forward" as it aims to return to profit.

Communications Vice President Selim Bingol had come out to confirm the authenticity of this letter.

It's notable that 12 of GM's 13 executive committee members are either new hires or have been assigned to different jobs ever since the company left bankruptcy in July, CFO Chris Liddell said.

Liddell himself entered the company last December, which is the month that Whitacre became CEO and picked two new lobbyists and appointed Mark Reuss as North America president.

Joe Phillippi, president of consultant AutoTrends in Short Hills, N.J., said that even people who have worked for GM for a long time and are doing a good job are worried about getting let go due to all the turmoil.

Whitacre said that he considers it a good idea to announce that the team is in place. Whitacre had served as a former AT&T Inc. chairman and CEO, before he became GM's chairman in July and took the CEO post on Dec. 1, when the board ousted Fritz Henderson.

He justified the changes that he wanted GM to have, citing the $88 billion loss from 2005 until the first quarter of last year. [via autonews]